Poland may extend gas deal with Russia until 2035
WARSAW, July 3 (Reuters) - Poland may prolong its gas contract with Russia until 2035, the prime minister's energy adviser was quoted as saying on Friday.
Maciej Wozniak, who advises Prime Minister Donald Tusk on energy security issues, told Rzeczpospolita daily Poland also expects to increase its gas usage by nearly 30 percent to 18 billion cubic metres by 2015.
Asked whether Poland would prolong the contract until 2035, Wozniak said: "We can agree to the contract's extension. It's a good moment to talk about the issue... Thanks to this we would not have to repeat the negotiations in a few years."
Poland is in talks with Russia over supplies of about 2.5 billion metres of gas annually it needs to meet domestic demand starting from 2010.
Some analysts say that extension of the deal would hamper Poland's diversification plans now focusing on construction of a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal, which is expected to go on line in 2014.
Wozniak added that supply volumes will be a key element of the negotiations.
Poland imports about two-thirds of its yearly consumption from Russia with the remaining one-third supplied through domestic consumption. Diversification of supplies is high on the agenda of Tusk's centre-right government. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski, Editing by Peter Blackburn)
